


Nurse

by Microjo



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Blood, F/M, Forbidden Love, Wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 00:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13513017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Microjo/pseuds/Microjo
Summary: Reader is Aethelreds nurse after he gets shot by an arrow





	Nurse

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Aethelred Imagine, hopefully it doesn’t flop too much!! We haven’t seen too much personality from him yet, besides in *that* episode (no spoilers lol), so I just kind of went with whatever came to mind.

You looked up at the sound of screaming for help, your hands dropping the cup you held as you quickly stood. Your eyes widened at the sight of Prince Aethelred being carried through the rain by two men, one being Prince Aethelwulf, his long legs dragging behind him with an arrow in his shoulder. Forgetting about the short break you'd been given, you threw everything off the table you were sat at before beginning to prepare the supplies; shouting for them to bring him to you. They did as told, Aethelwulf shouting,"Help him!" 

Aethelred moaned as they laid him down on his side on the table you'd cleared off, and you instructed the men to carefully cut his shirt and armor off. Aethelwulf watched with his hands in his hair, panic all over his face. You looked at the half awake prince in sympathy, before examining the wound. The arrow had gone all the way through, which made it easy to take it out. 

You snapped the back portion of the arrow in half, the boy groaning lightly at the movement. Aethelred writhed in pain, a hoarse cry escaping his throat. You looked up at his father who was muttering words to his son, that you ignored. "You'll have to hold him still, Prince Aethelwulf. I need to take this arrow out before he loses too much blood." He nodded, standing and waving two other soldiers over. They all held him still, and you carefully began to pull the arrow out. Aethelred screamed just as Judith came running over, but before she could reach him, he was unconscious. 

When he awoke, you were gently wiping the dried blood and sweat off of his face. He blinked, trying to rid the blurriness. You noticed, and moved back with a shy smile on your face,"Good, you're awake, my Prince." Aethelred went to speak, but only a cough escaped his lips. He groaned in pain, and you quickly moved to pour him a cup of water. You gently helped him sit his head up, holding the cup to his lips. When he'd taken a few sips, his head fell back onto the pillow with a sigh. "I will go tell Prince Aethelwulf and Princess Judith you're awake." You stood, moving to walk away until a weak hand grabbed your wrist. You looked back in confusion, your eyes catching his bright blue ones."Please, not yet. I'm not ready to hear them fuss over me."

You hesitated, knowing that you could get into trouble if you didn't tell them their son was okay and awake. But, as you stared into his pleading eyes, you found a soft smile gracing your features. Aethelred realized how beautiful you were, and wondered how he'd never seen you around before. He voiced this as you dipped your cloth back into the water and wrung it out.

"I've never seen you before, who are you?"

You sat back down next to him, continuing to wipe at the dried blood on his face and neck. "I'm not one that's usually noticed, my Prince-"

"Aethelred, call me Aethelred," he interrupted, staring at your face as you worked. A blush appeared your cheeks, and you nodded. "I'm not one that's usually noticed.. Aethelred, especially not by royalty."

"I find that incredibly hard to believe," he said, so quietly you almost didn't hear him. Before you could reply and ask what he meant, his tent flaps opened and in walked Aethelwulf, Judith, and Alfred. You both looked up, and Judith looked at you with a look that said 'leave'. Standing quickly, you dropped the rag into the bowl of water, bowed respectively, and hurried out of the tent. You spared a glance back at the injured prince, seeing him staring at you with a curious gaze, before you turned back around and nearly ran into a soldier. 

"My apologies," you nodded, going to check on other injured soldiers with a hot blush on your cheeks. Aethelred watched you run off, questioning,"Who is she?" Judith and Aethelwulf stared at him, the latter saying,"Just a nurse. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." 

A few hours later, you went back into his tent to check on him once again. His eyes brightened at the sight of you, for reasons you didn't know. You bowed once again at him and his father, who sat next to his bed. "When do you think I will be able to fight again?" Aethelred asked. Aethelwulf scowled at his son,"You got shot only yesterday, you need time to fully heal." You nodded in agreement as you pulled out the salve you'd made,"Your father is right Ae- Prince Aethelred." The young man frowned, partly at not being able to go back out and fight, and partly because you called him prince. But, he knew it was because his father was sat there. You moved toward him,"I need to check your wound, can you sit up?"

He nodded, but as he tried to push himself up, his arms gave out and he let out a cry at the sharp pain in his shoulder. His father and you both moved to help him sit up properly. He stared at you, and at the feeling of his hot breath on your face, you realized how close his face was to yours. You quickly looked away, and backed away slightly to begin unwrapping the gauze around his chest and shoulder that covered his wound. You looked over it, gently touching around the front of it. He hissed, his body tensing. You gave him an apologetic look, before moving to look at his back. Attempting to ignore his muscular body, you picked your piece of cloth out of a clean bowl of water. 

You wrung it out, looking at Aethelwulf. ”His wound should heal nicely, Prince Aethelwulf. I’ve made a salve to put on it, to fight infections and to help the healing process go quicker.”

”Thank you,” He gave a curt nod, standing up and pressing a kiss onto the top of his sons head. “I must go plan another strategy, I will be back later.” With that, his father walked out. You began to wipe around the freshly dried blood around his wound on his back, cleaning around it before applying the salve to it. He was tense at the feeling over your hands touching him at first, before he slowly relaxed. You were gentle, and as careful not to hurt him as you could be. 

You moved to his front, his eyes following you the entire time as you worked. “Why are you staring at me?” You asked, glancing up at his face. Aethelred blinked quickly, his mouth opening slightly. 

“You’re just.. you’re beautiful.” 

You blushed, shaking your head,”Oh! W-well, thank you, my prince. I mean, Aethelred.” He smiled kindly at you as you began to apply a new gauze. “You never told me your name,” he said after a few moments. 

“My name is Y/N.”

Over the course of the next few days, you continued to come into his tent to check on him and reapply a new gauze and the salve. He continued to ask more questions about who you were, and where you came from, and you continued to learn more about him in return. It was hard to deny the feelings that were quickly growing, but with the knowledge that he was a prince and you were only a nurse made it easy to convince yourself that nothing could ever happen between you. He would be promised to another princess or a daughter of a Lord one day, and you’d be left alone. After he was healed, he’d probably forget all about you, anyway. 

But, Aethelred felt the same way you did. He didn’t care about his status, or yours. And even though he’d never felt the feeling before, he knew he was quickly falling in love with you. 

One day, you walked into his tent to find that he was trying to stand up from his bed. He was tired of being cooped up, not even allowed to stand up on his own to piss. “Aethelred, be careful!” you exclaimed, running over as he nearly fell from laying down so much. He fell against you, causing you to stumble slightly before you caught your balance. “You should have waited until someone else could help you,” you scolded, causing him to roll his eyes. 

“I am fine, Y/N. You’ve saved me, once again,” he half joked, staring down at you fondly as you held onto his waist to prevent him from falling. You gave a huff as you felt the familiar heat rising to your cheeks, telling him,”You should get back into bed.” 

“I’m tired of laying in bed.” 

You looked up at him, preparing to scold him once again before you realized how close his face was to yours, and how his hands rested against your arms. He seemed to realize it as well, as his gaze flickered down to your lips, before looking back into your eyes. Aethelred slowly began to lean in, and you nodded lightly as if to give him permission. One of his hands moved to hold the back of your neck, his fingers tangling in your hair as he finally placed his lips onto yours. 

It was weird at first, your noses bumped into the others, but you didn’t care. Soon enough, though, it became as if you’d kissed a thousand times before. His lips moved softly against yours, your hands tightening around his waist, fingers gripping his shirt. You pulled back, eyes opening wide in shock. 

“W-we shouldn’t do that.”

You were cut off by his lips on yours, but he pulled back right after. His forehead rested against yours,”Why not?.” A soft sigh escaped your lips, your eyes fluttering shut as he caressed your cheek. ”Because, you’re a prince, and I’m no one,” you responded, voice quiet as your eyes opened back up to see him staring at you. 

Aethelred gave you a small smile as he moved back to look at you better,”You’re not no one, you’re my future wife.”


End file.
